The Zerg Swarm - Neo
by East Bridge
Summary: The relaunch of an old story. A young man awakened on a strange, hostile world to find that he had become the Overmind of the Zerg. He would discovered that the Swarm was not just a race of creatures bred for war, but a vibrant civilization with their own colorful culture. With their support he would not only explore the wonder of a new world but a new galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Family**

We liked to think that we were unique, that our planet was unique, that nowhere else in the universe were there others like us.

It might be the hubris of humankind but it did make us feel special.

The truth was that Earth and humans were anything but unique. Think of each world as a computer and each species was a program in that computer. The human species was the divine equivalent of Microsoft's Word, a wonderful program but hardly unique to any one computer.

This story concerned a world with humans on it. This particular world could easily be a sibling's to Earth. The planet had oceans and continents, mountains and valleys, forests and deserts, so on and so forth. The humans there called their world Luminous.

Human civilization on Luminous did not follow the path of technology. Due to a genetic quirk, a small percentage of the population possessed the ability to manipulate the elements, and this gift became the driving force of the civilization.

Luminous was not dominated by humans as much as Earth was. Human here struggled for supremacy against the wild beasts of the world whom they had dubbed 'Hellites'. Hellites came in every shape and size, as diverse as animals were on Earth. Strong and faster than humans, the Hellites possessed the same gift to manipulate the element, though their offensive and defensive abilities were simplistic due to their low intelligence. Thank heaven for small favors, because the Hellites' low intelligence had been the only thing that gave the human species on Luminous a fighting chance.

Outnumbered, outgunned, the human banded together to survive, building cities, large and small, huddling behind thick walls of stone for protection. Each city of Luminous was ruled by the various Gifted Families assigned by the royal family of the respective kingdom or empire, the ability to wield the elements being genetic making the chance of it passing from parent to child much higher.

There were problems behind the wall, as there was with any settlement, more so since waste disposal was not very developed and there the existence of Hellites prevented farming of any useful scale which meant a constant shortage of food. Limited resources meant more crimes, more conflict, and the existence of the Gifted created a very elitist culture, along with the problems of such a society.

This particular story actually began six months before this story began. There were details and events, big and small, important and otherwise. Half a year before, within the Forest of Green Sea, a jungle that stretched for five thousand miles from edge to edge, a civilization of unimaginable power had awaken, a race of creatures that grew strong by absorbing the power of the sun. Within a mountain ten mile from the forest's edge, the civilization grew. One grew to ten, then a thousand. Within six months, there were nearly two millions of them occupying the caverns and the network of tunnels in and beneath the mountain. Of course, a civilization of such power did not grow without affecting the environment. However, the woodlands of Luminous belong to the Hellites so no human witnessed the change. As for the Hellites in the area, they possessed neither the intelligence to understand the changes in their environment nor the curiosity necessary to investigate.

The closest human settlement, the city of White Stone, one of three largest cities of the Kingdom of Green Hill, was more concerned with their own problems, of which there were many. Six months after the awakening of the civilization, give or take a few days, the Black Thorn clan, a minor linage of White Stone, was holding their annual tournament.

It was a ritual of the Black Thorn, a coming-of-age ceremony for all that had turned fifteen in the last year, and the place for all members below twenty-five to display their prowess in an environment that wasn't quite as lethal as battles with Hellites.

This year was an exciting, if not auspicious, year for the main branch of the Black Thorn. Six months before, Night Black Thorn, grandson of the current head of the main branch, had turned fifteen.

As far as the Black Thorn's main branch was concern, Night's birth was not an honorable one. Many years ago, his mother was betrothed to the eldest son of the current head of Blue Fire family, another minor family of White Stone. It was a political marriage meant as an alliance between the houses.

The plan was disrupted when Gemma had become pregnant. Gemma had hid the identity of the father, and Night's birth became a disgrace to the Black Thorn. Growing up, he was reviled and abused, physically and mentally. For fifteen years, Night and his mother had been worked harder than any servant, while given barely enough food to survive. Whereas other member of the main branch were given houses and were allowed to live in relative luxury, Gemma had to build a shack for herself and her son. Inexperienced, the shelter she constructed offered them little protection against the bite of nature.

Five years ago, the situation got even worse when Gemma became pregnant for a second time and gave birth to a daughter, Dawn. The main branch gave them enough ration allotment for a child but assigned the infant an amount of labor that many adults would not be able to handle. By then, both of them had learned that protest would do no good. And so, they gritted their teeth and took on the extra workload.

Fate seemed to be disinclined to show them any mercy. Night, as far as anyone knew, was not gifted.

According to an ancient law of the bloodline, any member of the main branch not displaying the gift could be disown when he come of age at the discretion of the head of the main branch. It was a superfluous law. Gifted or not, no member of the main branch had ever been cast out.

Night would be the first. For months, the entire line was all but gleeful at the prospect of expelling Night from the clan, scrubbing their line clean of the stain that was the bastard child of Gemma.

Unbeknownst to anyone, not even his mother, he was not as powerless as everyone believed. Six months ago, he was bestowed an unseemly amount of power. As to who had bestowed upon him his power and why, he did not know. The questions had been scratching at the back of his mind for more than a few days.

Six months ago, he had become the governing will of a species that could potentially numberless, a swarm whose fury could devour the very stars. Already, his power had grown to such that the combined might of all the clans of White Stone could not challenge him.

He was no longer Night, son of Gemma, and not simply because of this power. Along with his power was a set of memories of Nathan Peters, an eighteen-year-old of a distance planet called Earth.

Thought Night did not know how far Luminous was from Earth, he found it slightly disturbing that he and Nathan shared the same face. Deep in his mind, he knew that he did not simply received Nathan's memories, that their souls had merged. He also knew, instinctively, that theirs were two halves of the same whole. How those two halves came to be separated by the stars themselves, he could only guess. He suspected that the answered to the mysteries of his life and soul could only be solved once he got back to Earth.

As much as he wanted answers, it wasn't the main reason for his desire to return to Earth. It was Nathan's parents and now his. Nathan was the only son of Ethan and Sarah Peters. Theirs was an average family, lower middle-class. Nathan's father worked for the government, as a janitor. It's not glamorous, but it was stable. Sarah was a stay at home mom. She was a bit of a curiosity. Her deserts, in her husband's and son's opinion, were among the best in the world. And yet, the woman main courses were so awful that a good number of them were all but inedible. Their son was their brightest star in their night sky. Night knew for a fact that Nathan had disappeared on Earth. He was afraid to imagine how devastated his Earth parents were. He needed to get back to them.

Unfortunately, the stars were out of his reach for the immediately future. There was nothing for him to do except to focus on Luminous for now.

As weird as his life had become, Night had to admit that he was blessed when it came to parents. His Earth parent and Luminous mother were the best anyone could ask for. His Luminous father, on the other hand, was a jack-hole, whoever he was, but three out of four wasn't bad.

His Luminous father, as far as he was concern, was irrelevant. His most immediately problem was his mother's side of the family. From his memories and the six months he had spent with them, it was taking all of his self control not to have the entire linage torn to little pieces and flushed them all down the toilet.

Despite that particular, overwhelming desire, he felt that he should at least give them a chance, for his mother if no one else. And so, he had hid his power, saved for some extra food and clothes for his mother and sister, in an effort to test the Black Thorn.

Unfortunately, they had failed, and they had done so gloriously.

And that was how they came to be at the main courtyard of the Black Thorn's compound. His grandfather, Mason, had just announced his expulsion from their 'illustrious' family, and his mother was in tears, pleading for him to change his mind.

For his part, Night truly believe that they could live a better life as peasants, even if he did not have his power, but living in the Black Thorn family was all his mother ever knew. More than that, there was no shortage of horror stories about peasant life floating around the various Gifted Lineages of the city. Night suspected that it was propaganda designed to inspire gratitude in members of these supposedly higher bloodlines and increased the cohesion of each family. It was the popular belief that the lowest servant of a Gifted Family was better off than the most successful peasant. With his memories from Earth to give him perspective, Night knew that this was a train-load of horse manure, but he could sympathize with his mother's fear.

And so, he stood silent, enduring his mother tears, the coldness of his supposed grandfather, and the snickering mockeries of the Black Thorn. He believed that it was necessary. For some reason, she still had loyalty toward the Black Thorn, and Night couldn't allow that. She was his mother, Queen Mother of the Swarm. For her to have any emotional tie to a clan like Black Thorn was beyond distasteful. Unfortunately, for her to sever her tie with the Black Thorn, any hope she had for this clan had to die; she needed to be free of them.

"Father, please," Gemma begged one final time, and Night could hear the despair in her voice.

"Enough!" his grandfather snapped from the raised dais overlooking them. With his long snowy white beard and hair, the old man almost looked kindly, but Night knew otherwise. "I have tolerated the taints you have brought into our clan long enough."

"Taints?" Night said, catching the inflection. The common tongue of Luminous shared some similarities with English. The spoken syllables were different but grammars and tenses were remarkably alike. "You don't just mean me, do you?"

The old man floundered for a moment at his slip, but his expression immediately hardened. "Your vermin of a sister is no better than you."

Night stiffened and held his breath to keep from lashing out with his power and crushed the old man's bones into paste. As infuriating as his statement was, it did suit his purpose. As much as his mother loved him, his little sister was sacred. Night would be jealous if he didn't feel the same way about the little girl.

In his opinion, she more than deserved their adoration. Six months ago, when his power had come to him, he had been bed ridden for three days, his metamorphosis having not been an easy process. As far as his mother and sister had knew, he had come down with a terrible malady. As his mother scramble to try to find a way to enlist the service of a healer, his little sister had given him all of her ration while hiding it from both of them. After three day, the five-year-old had lost consciousness from hunger. It was one of the reasons that Night couldn't let his sister go hungry, even as he hid his power to test the Black Thorn.

In the last six months, he had beaten several dozen servants for picking on his sister. Yesterday, after the head servant of the clan came upon his sister eating a piece of fruit, he had accused her of theft and struck her. Night had calmly, and promptly, bashed his head in with a rock. He suspected that that particular event had further fueled his expulsion from the clan.

To Night and his mother, Dawn was their own Imperial Fabergé egg: delicate, beautiful, and unimaginably valuable. For his grandfather to say such a thing, it would probably less of blow if the old man had hacked off one of their limbs.

From where he was standing, Night could see despair on his mother's face turned to shock and then fury at the statement. The anger burned away what little warmth she had when she looked toward the members of Black Thorn, and Night knew that the statement was the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Night sighed in relief. He didn't think he could stomach these people anymore. He stepped closer to his mother. "Mother, go get Dawn."

Gemma turned to him. "What?"

"I'll explain later. Just please, go get my sister."

"Al-alright."

"Hold on," he said as his mother took a step away.

At a gesture from him, the stone courtyard exploded as two dozen creatures burst out of the ground. The creatures were over eight feet tall, their body decorated by carapaces and rows of spikes, with the lower bodies of serpents with forelimbs that ended in scythe-like blade and elongated disk-shaped skulls above demonic façades with bifurcated jaws that opened to revealed rows of gleaming canines.

If any gamer of Earth saw the creatures, they would know them for what they were—Hydralisks, one of the staple units of the Zerg Swarm. This was the power bestowed upon him. Six months ago, he had awakened to find that he had become the Overmind of the Zerg, the monarchic will of the Swarm.

Gemma started when they appeared, and the color drained from her face. She stood frozen in terror when they converged upon them.

Night placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, mother. They're mine."

"Yours?" Gemma breathed. "What do you mean yours?"

Night gave his mother a smile and reached toward the nearest Hydralisk. The creature lowered its head and eased forward until its forehead touched his hand. It made two clicking sounds before cooing softly. It was not the first time a Zerg had made such a sound when he touched them. Night had to admit that it was a little endearing and extremely creepy.

"They served me," Night explained.

Gemma gaped at her son. "You're a Tamer?"

Tamer were a special class of Gifted. Instead of manifesting the elements, Tamer psychically enthralled Hellites to fight for them. While Tamer were physically weaker than other Gifted, fighting a Tamer meant fighting two, maybe three, Hellites of the same level as the Tamer. The most famous Tamer in the history of the kingdom was the ancient head of the Divine Beast, a noble line of the Kingdom, one of the original founders of Green Hill.

Through the years, Luminous had developed a classification system that divided both Hellites and Gifted into numbered level; the higher the number, the more powerful the Hellite or Gifted. Each level was then divided into three increments: low, middle, and high. Night wasn't sure how high the system went; all he knew was that the most powerful gifted in the entire kingdom was a mid level six.

The ancient head of the Divine Beast was a high level five Tamer. At the height of his power, he commanded six level five Hellites. He was a still a legend one hundred and fifty years after his death. Throughout Luminous, Tamers were considered elites even among the Gifted. Gemma had always thought that her son was not gifted. To find out that he was a Tamer, and that he controlled so many creatures, it was beyond shocking.

"I'm not a Tamer mother," Night said. "I am something this world had never seen."

Gemma trembled. His words scared her. She had bore him and raised him. He was her son, and yet in that moment, he felt like a stranger.

"I will explain what I can," Night continued, seeing her uneasiness. "For now, these creatures will go with you to retrieve my sister, and I will take us to our new home."

Gemma fidgeted for a moment before nodding. She turned and left the courtyard with her Hydralisks escort.

Night watched his mother leaved before turning back to the rest of the Black Thorn. All of their snickering, all of their whispered mockeries had stopped when the Hydralisks had appeared. The sheer viciousness of the creatures and stunned them all, and they had stood in frozen silent.

"I could have give wealth and power beyond your greatest dreams; show you wonders beyond your wildest imagining," Night said. "If only you weren't such a disappointment."

His words seemed to shock Mason out of his frozen state. "How dare you—"

"One hundred and seventeen times," Night cut him off. "In the last six months, I have come to you one hundred and seventeen times. I gave you one hundred and seventeen chances to speak up for us, your kins, your blood. You only had to defend us once, show us one act of compassion. I had set the bar ridiculously, hilariously low, and still you fail."

The old man bristled as his words and he sneered, "Do you think a handful of beasts would make me feel regret? You are trash and those creatures changed nothing."

Night smirked at him. "I hope those words give you comfort."

As though on cue, a dozen dark shapes shot through the sky. They looked like a balloons of flesh with carapaces and rows of spikes. Each creature had an insectoid head with six eyes, two large arms, and six legs that hung beneath its rotund body.

They were the air transport of the Swarm, the eyes and ears of the Overmind, dubbed Overlords. Unlike in the game, where their speeds were the slowest among the Zerg, Night's Overlord was able to reach a maximum speed of one thousand miles per hour.

Just as the Black Thorn was sounding the alarm, the twelve Overlords landed in the courtyards. Their sides opened and several hundred Zerg came pouring out. Amish a few dozen Hydralisks, there were winged dog-like insectoid creatures with bladed limbs extended from their shoulders and spiky turtle-like creatures that stood upon six legs. These creatures were the Zerglings and Roaches of the Swarm, respectively.

From the lead Overlord, a woman in a flowing red gown stepped out. Statuesque and curvy, the woman was shockingly, inhumanly beautiful with her flowing black hair and rosy lips. Despite her beauty, the soft crimson hue of her eyes suggested a bloodlust that none of her other feature seemed to.

She gazed around until her eyes came upon Night. Her full lips curved into a warm smile and she swept toward him, moving with a grace and smoothness that would put any noblewoman to shame. All around her, the Zerg chittered and parted to allow her passage.

She stopped in front of Night. She held her right hand up to her waist, placed her left hand in her right, bended her knees, and bowed her head slightly. "Overmind," she said, and the affection in her voice was cleared for all to hear.

"Eve," Night said, unable to keep from smiling himself.

Despite her human appearance, he knew her for what she was. Eve was the first Zerg Queen of his Swarm. Her human form was something he specified when he ordered her birth in order to facilitate her interaction with humans, specifically his mother and sister. Her true form was covered in a suit of carapace scales with a pair of bone wings extending from her back.

When she had first emerged from her cocoon, he had been scared witless. Her appearance was that of the Queen of Blades. Considering the fact that the Zerg-Hybrid Sarah Kerrigan in the original legends murdered the Overmind and took over the Swarm, he was quite nervous around her first week or so.

In Night's version of the Zerg, the Queens were the powerful units of the Swarm, with the exception of Night himself. Among an arsenal of abilities, the Zerg Queens' greatest gift was called Psionic Focus. This ability allowed them to draw psychic power from the telepathic network that connected every member of the Swarm. The more Zerg in existence, the more powerful they were. Night's Swarm was to go through four stages of evolution: planetary, interplanetary, interstellar, and intergalactic. At the planetary stage, each of his Zerg Queens would need three hundred million Zerg to reach the pinnacle of her psionic power.

"So they fail your test," Eve said.

"Don't gloat," Night said.

Even though he was the governing will of the Zerg, the members of the Swarm were not without their independent. Thought he lower Zerg were too simplistic to take advantage of this autonomy, higher Zerg such as the Queens had their own opinions, and sometimes even secrets; if necessary, the Queen could even disobey the Overmind and take any action necessary to keep him safe, but that would only happened in the most drastic of circumstances, like if Night decided to jump into the sun for example.

Eve had always disagreed Night's decision to be away from the Swarm, especially to test a few humans. Still, one of her most ingrained instinct was to serve her Overmind so she had acquiesced to his desire. Even so, the Zerg Queens primary duty was to be the royal guard of the Overmind. To force her to spend six months away from him was really pushing it.

"You seemed a little upset, Overmind," Eve said. "Did you expect otherwise?"

Night sighed. "No, but I had hoped, blood being thicker than water and all."

"Perhaps, but it is also much harder to clean up," Eve said.

Night arched a brow at her. "I didn't know that Zerg can be so philosophical."

Eve huffed. "How could you when you've spent the six months since our birth living with the humans?"

Night tried not to smile. As ferocious and vicious as the Swarm was toward everyone else, when it came to their Overmind, the Zerg was extremely protective, and possessive. It was nice, and disturbing.

Night waited for his mother and sister in silence while the other Zerg chittered and clicked excitedly to each other, many eyeing the humans in the courtyard, seemingly ready and eager to attack. Next to Night, Eve was quiet as her Overmind. Occasionally, she would glance at the Black Thorn in distaste. Of course, this was a bleed through from Night. Emotionally, the Zerg was somewhat simplistic: they hated whoever their Overmind hated and loved whoever he loved.

As for the Black Thorn, they were all frozen in terror. There were only about fifty of them in the courtyard while the Zerg numbered ten times that. To compound their fear, each and every Zerg looked like the most vicious of Hellites. To a one, they were afraid that one wrong move and they would be torn apart.

The pall of silent filled the courtyard, and everyone felt as though time had slowed. For Night, it was impatience, while, for the Black Thorn, it was fear.

The Black Thorn nearly let out an audible sigh of relief when Gemma reappeared with her escort of Hydralisks. Following closely behind her, half hidden, little hands clutching at her Gemma's dress, was a little girl.

She was a delicate little thing, small for her age, but then, until six months ago, she didn't really have that much food. Though the girl had only seen five years, and during those five years her mother and brother had safeguarded her as best they could, her body was beginning to show the wears of time, marks that even her youth could not stave off.

The girl was skin and bones. Even though Night had been bringing her foods, living for five years virtually in a constant state of hunger had ingrained into her the habit of hoarding food, saving in case she didn't get the next meal, so she had only eaten a fraction of what he had brought her.

It wasn't just her size. The girl long blond hair was tangled and dull. Her skin was ashy, and there were the faint shadows of dark circle beneath her dim blue eyes.

Despite all of it, Night would choose her over the greatest of beauty. He had to; she was his sister. Although, Night knew that his sister could grow up to be a heartbreaker. She was simply a smaller version of his mother and Gemma, before he was born, was said to be greatest beauty in the kingdom. At least, that was the whispers he heard from some of the servants. In any case, Night would rejuvenate his mother and sister. Good health and simple matter for the Swarm.

"Dawn," Night said, smiling gently.

"Big brother," the little blond said, her face lighting up. She slid out from behind her mother and ran into his arms.

"I'm beginning to think she likes you better than me," Gemma said, but her voice was light and Night could see the hint of a smile on her lips.

Night picked up his sister. Holding her in one arm, he scrubbed a spot of dirt from her cheek. "In her defense," he said, smiling at his mother, "I did bring her a lot of treats these last few months."

Gemma startled. "So that's where all the food came from," she whispered, glancing at the Zerg surrounding them.

"Enough!" Mason roared from his dais.

Like the rest of the clan, he had been gripped by the terror the Zerg instilled. For him, it was more than just a worry of his personal safety. As the head of the Black Thorn, he realized that the virtually every member of the main branch was here. If they were killed, the Black Thorn would be all but gone.

Despite the fear, the return of Gemma bringing Dawn and their subsequent conversation filled him with an anger that momentarily overcame the fear. He considered Night's entire family an embarrassment of their clan. For them to speak to each other as though he was air was not something he would tolerate.

Of course, his bravery lasted only a moment. Before he could say another world, Eve whirled on him, her eyes glowed dimly and the old man felt an enormous amount of force pressing in from all sides. His muscles stiffened instinctively to resist the force but it was meaningless, and he could almost feel his bones creaking beneath the strain.

Even though her power was effectively halved in her human form, Eve's psionic ability was still considerable with a telepathic network of two millions Zerg to draw her power from, more than enough to crush a level three Gifted like the head of the Black Thorn.

"Careful," Night said, smirking, "or she'll grind your bones to bake her bread."

Next to him, Eve smiled wider. The eyes glowed brighter almost imperceptible. Twenty yards away, the old man felt the force around him intensified and he was lifted a foot into the air. The constricting force forced the breath from his lung and preventing him from drawing any air.

When it seemed as though the old man would either be crushed or suffocated, Gemma placed a hand on her son's shoulder and shook her head.

Night paused for a moment and sighed. "Fine, but you are going to have to get over your softness for this pathetic little clan."

With a glance from him, Eve released the head of the Black Thorn, who collapsed onto the ground.

"Let's go," Night said, carrying his sister into the closest Overlord, followed closely by Eve.

Gemma gave one final class at what once was her clan before following her son into the creature with a touch of trepidation. The rest of the Zerg waited until she entered before filing into the other Overlords. In perfect synchronicity, the Overlords took to the sky, carrying Night and his family to their new life, leaving an old one behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: New Home**

Gemma felt a bit overwhelmed. Flight was a privilege reserved for level five and above. While the there was one level five in White Stone—the Lord Protector of White Stone's ruling clan—the Black Thorn had not had even a level four in a hundred year. For Gemma, the sky had always been an unreachable frontier.

And yet, she was flying.

The interior of the creature that she had followed her son into was hollowed, like a chamber with soft wall. It was quite spacious, bigger than even the shack that they had lived in for the last decade and a half.

The interior of the creature was well-lit though she couldn't see where the light was coming from. The air was crisp, clean, and slightly cool. It was very pleasant. Despite its name, White Stone was quite dirty. Overpopulation and dirt roads made for a very unclean living environment.

As the creature ascended, large sections in the front, sides, above, and even in the floor became transparent. At first, Gemma had thought that the sections had seemly disappeared. Her heart nearly stopped when her son walked onto the transparent section in the floor.

"It's just optic projection, mother," Night explained. "Zerg Overlords can see in every direction and they can take what they see and project it onto the interior walls of their body."

Gemma couldn't really understand what he was saying. To her mind, he was a Gifted, and she was having some difficulty getting use to it. She was just a normal person. Normals and Gifted might share Luminous, but they lived in different worlds. Like many Normals, Gemma didn't really understand the world of the Gifted. Now that her son was one, it felt as though he was so far away, even as he was standing in front of her. She did not like that feeling at all.

Still, she couldn't deny how wondrous flying was. The city shrank away beneath them. From up high, all the problems didn't seemed to exist, and White Stone seemed like a paradise. This perception lingered even as they flew out of the city, and Gemma felt a touch of nostalgia despites the slew of terrible memories of the past decade.

They flew beyond the wall of White Stone and the sight of the horizon out of the front of the creature captivated her. As they streaked through the sky, Gemma felt a sense of freedom she had never felt before. Her life in White Stone had been a constant grind of backbreaking labor, day in and day out.

In the past, she had kept her head down and pushed on because she didn't know what she would do if she left the clan. More than that, she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to feed her children.

Now, they were leaving behind their old time. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't scared, but she also felt a hint of excitement. Where was Night taking them? What awaited them beyond that horizon?

After awhile, a forest appeared on the horizon. Gemma's heart stopped when the Overlords headed straight for the tree line.

"We can't go in there," she said, gripping her son's arm in panic.

"Don't worry, mother," he said. "My Swarm had carved out a bit of territory in the forest. The Hellites there are pretty much cattle. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Gemma gaped at her son. Hellites existed in tens of thousands in the outer forest. Such a force was enough to challenge the royal army. To take over an area of the forest and keep the Hellites there as cattle, she couldn't even imagine the kind of power that would take.

Though she was still worried, she decided to trust her son. Even so, she held her breath as the Overlords entered the sky above the forest. She nearly panicked when she saw a few flying Hellites pursuing them. Fortunately, the Hellites could not match the speed of the Overlords. After chasing them for a short distance, the Hellites suddenly veered away and fled.

"Hellites aren't as stupid as we would like to think," Night said, seeing the confusion on Gemma's face. "My Swarm allowed Hellites into their area of the forest but the sky is off-limit."

Gemma turned to her son. She couldn't understand the reason for the different. Night and his 'Swarm' obviously did not fear the Hellites. If they let them into their territory, why not the sky?

"It's the Overlords," Night explained. "Despite their giant arms, they are more or less defenseless in battle. Within the echelon of the Swarm, the Overlords are reasonably high-rank, so the Zerg guarded the airspace populated by the Overlords to keep them safe."

Night indicated out the front opening. Amid the green trees, there suddenly emerged a patch of forest where all the trees were pinkish-purple. The odd-colored trees were taller than the green ones, their canopy of leaves much thicker. In the sky above the canopy, she saw hundred of creatures, identical to the one they were in, just floating in the air.

As they drew close, the entire purple canopy trembled as a swarm of hound-like creatures rose out of the leaves.

Gemma stopped breathing. It wasn't because the creatures were frightening in appearance, and they were. They were more vicious looking than any Hellites she had ever seen. She wasn't afraid because she had seen these creatures before, among those that her son commanded.

What stunned her was their number. They all but filled the sky. Hundreds of thousands of them swirled like a dark cloud over the forest.

"Did you know that the original version of the Zergling can't fly?" Night said. "I could never understand why. I mean, they had wings." His voiced lower and he seemed to be speaking to himself. "I suppose it is necessary for the balance of the game and the wings do look good."

Gemma barely heard him. "They are all yours?" she breathed.

Night nodded.

"How powerful are they?" Gemma asked.

"That's tricky to gauge. One on one, they could hold their own against a mid level three, though I have seen a pack of about eighty tear apart a mid level four," Night said.

It was a bit of an aberration. Normally, it would take fifty mid level three to take down a high level three, and it would take a hundred high level three to challenge a low level four. The gap between a mid level three and a mid level four was akin to the Grand Canyon.

Gemma sucked in a breath. Level three and there were thousands of them, all her son's to command. She honestly doubted even the might of the Royal Family could challenge such a force.

The Overlord carried them forward. The swarm of Zerglings parted to allow them passage, moving with a fluid synchronicity like water around a rock. A great mountain could be seen beyond the Zerglings. All over the surface of the mountain were thousands of elevated gardens, either situated upon great outcrops of rocks or within enormous alcoves carved into the mountain.

The Overlord carried them to a garden in a massive alcove carved into a wall of stone wall so large that it seemed the gods themselves had cleaved away a section of the mountain with a great sword. The creature touched down, and its side opened. Gemma, holding her daughter close, followed her son out of the creature, stepping onto a lush carpet of grass. The ground seemed a bit odd beneath her feet. It was very soft, almost spongy. All around them, in the trees, dark shapes moved through the brushes. She could see eyes peering out at them from between the leaves.

Bewildered, overwhelmed, nervous, and a bit scared, Gemma followed her son through the garden. They came upon a great pair of doors etched into the wall. The doors were a hundred paces across and so tall that, standing at its base, she could barely see the top.

On Luminous, metal was the primary form of currency. Hellite cores, energy crystals that formed inside the brains of Hellites, were use for bigger denominations but ninety percents of all economic exchange were made with steel and various other metals.

The gate parted on its own and swung inward. The thickness of the doors stunned Gemma. The barrier was a good ten paces deep. One door alone was more wealth than all of White Stone and there were two of them.

Beyond the gate was a great hall with rows of polished pillars. Etched into the walls and the pillars were enormous crystals that bathed the entire hall in gentle light.

Two rows female servants were waiting for them, one on either side of the doorway, hands clasped in front of them. They were all inhumanly beautiful in matching light purple dresses. They all had long hair woven into a neat tail that hung down their backs, some more golden than sunshine, some darker than midnight, and other still redder than an open flames.

"Bath first, and then dinner," Night said to one of the women before turning to Gemma and Dawn. "You two are filthy," he looked down at himself, "and for that matter, so am I. So baths for everyone."

As he made to walk away, Dawn broke away from Gemma, ran to him and gripped the fabric of his pants with her little fingers.

Gemma sighed softly. Living with the Black Thorn, she had to spend most of her time trying to complete the workload assigned to them so it had fallen to Night to take care of his sister most of the time. Dawn became very attached to her big brother, more so since Night was very protective of her.

When they were living with the Black Thorn, even the servants treated them badly, but they never went out of their way to mistreat Dawn like they did Gemma and Night. The primary reason was Night. Whatever the servants did or said to him, he would keep his head down and drudged on, but if they touched his sister, he would lash out and damn the consequences.

When she was three, one of the servants had struck Dawn. That afternoon, Night had attacked the servant and gouged out one of his eyes. In the Black Thorn, servants were punished by a public whipping. For what he did, Night's grandfather had ordered fifty strokes. That Night had received a punishment reserved for servants, and all because he defended his sister, was a testament to their position in the clan.

Through it all, Night didn't make a sound; he didn't even flinch. Afterward, his back in bloody ribbons, he had turned to the watching servant and said, "Do not think that this beating means anything. If any of you lay a hand on my sister again, even if it cost me my life, I will kill you." He had walked away, dripping droplets of blood in his wake. He didn't pass out until they got to their cottage. Dawn had cried that entire day, and Gemma had shed more than a few tears. She knew that bloody back was burned into her daughter's mind; it had burned itself into hers. Because of Night, the servants had give Dawn a relatively large berth, until yesterday, when Dawn was struck again. Honestly, part of Gemma wasn't even surprised when she heard that her son had killed the servant who hit his sister.

Night knelt down and patted his sister's head. "It's alright, Dawnie. Go with them. It's just one bath."

Dawn stubbornly shook her head, her fingers refused to let him go. Gemma could understand her feeling, as beautiful and glorious as place was, it was also very intimidating. Even she was a bit scared of this place; she couldn't only imagine what her five-year-old was feeling.

Night sighed. "Fine. Communal bath then. You need to change into something more appropriate for a pool." He turned to Gemma. "Oh yes, before I forget."

Night stood up and took his sister's hand. He walked toward Gemma and place Dawn next to her. Reaching out, he touched both of them on the forehead with the tips of his fingers.

In the next moment, Gemma gasped, and in her ears, she could hear her daughter making the same sound. From the tips of her son's fingers, she felt a stream of warmth. Within a heartbeat, the warmth flowed into every corner of her body. The sensation was blissful, a thousand times better than taking a hot bath in the middle of winter.

More than a physical sensation, in her mind, Gemma saw the vague shadow of an endless space, fill with glimmering clouds of every color of the rainbow. High above, there were million motes of lights like stars in the night sky, slowly swirling around an enormous crystalline orb. From the orbs, thousands more dots of light continuously streamed out to join their brethrens in their celestial dance. If she concentrated, she could hear music and laughter softly echoing from the lights.

It was mesmerizing. Just watching them, she felt the slightest hint of a serenity unlike anything she had ever known. It was just a touch, but it instilled a hunger in the very depth of very being. She wanted that serenity. She would sell her soul for it.

Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed to stay there for long. Night's fingers left her forehead and that hint of a spiritual paradise vanished like smoke in the wind. It took a moment before Gemma realized that she was in tears. To have experienced that, if only for a moment, was the greatest of blessing. At the same time, to have it wrench away, was akin to be hurled into damnation.

She wasn't sure if her tears were one of joy or sorrow.

Next to her, Dawn grabbed her brother's hand and held it to her head. "More," she half-pleaded, half-demanded.

Her reaction seemed to take him by surprised, and worry creased his forehead.

"What was that?" Gemma breathed.

"Transfusion," Night answered. "It's an ability that the Queens and I can use. It is using a wave of Bio energy to heal, rejuvenate, and/or purge all the pollution from the body of a biological entity." He seemed to be answering reflexively, but a hint of pride entered his voice. "Through it I can grant health and longevity, virtual immortality," he frowned, turning his gaze to Eve, "though it seemed to have had some unforeseen effect."

Eve gazed at Gemma for a moment. "You saw it, didn't you?"

Gemma nodded weakly. Her head was still swimming a little and Eve seemed different. She seemed more regal, almost divine. With that thought, her son drew her attention. Whereas the Queen was 'almost' divine, her son definitely was. It was just an inkling in her mind, but it was enough to fuel a drive to protect him as any cost, to sacrifice herself for him without hesitation. Normally, she would die for either of her children without a second thought, but this was different. The desire to protect him was overwhelming, almost to the point that Dawn became an acceptable casualty if it was to keep him safe. The thought horrified her.

"Eve?" Night said, oblivious to her conflict.

"It is possible that through you, they had been allowed a faint connection to the Swarm. They may have seen the very essence of the Zerg, if only for a moment," Eve said.

"That could be problematic," Night said.

Eve nodded. "Unity with the Swarm brings with it a euphoria of the mind and contentment of the soul beyond the description of mortal words. A mere hint could be enough to drive humans mad." She glanced at Gemma and Dawn before returning her gaze to Night. "We are fortunate. Your mother and sister still have their sanity, though a hunger had already gripped them."

"You could have warned me," Night breathed.

"I could not have foreseen this, Overmind. We have little experience in dealing with humans, and there is no telling what effects the blood bond between you would have when coupled with your power."

"What do you advise? I cannot give offer them a true seat among the Zerg…"

Gemma's heart froze. She had hoped and prayed to be allowed into that great place of light once more, but her son's words brought despair. Next to her, she felt Dawn trembling, she knew for the same reason. She let out a sigh of relief when her son added.

"…not yet."

"We could put them in stasis."

"No," Night said immediately. "I'll not let the world passed them by."

"Then there is no choice is to chance it."

Sighing, Night turned and walked toward Gemma and Dawn. He knelt down before his sister and gently stroke her head. "Have patience. There is a place for you among the lights. I promise." He turned his gaze to Gemma and she knew that Night's promise was not for his sister alone.

"Until then," he continued, "you both stink to high heaven."

Gemma looked down at herself and startled. Her entire body was all but covered by a layer of black, oily sludge, and there was an all-but-visible stench aura around her. She didn't even notice.

"It's the toxin and pollution in your body," Night explained. "The Transfusion process had forced all the harmful substance in your body out through the pores in your skin."

"Ew," Dawn said.

"Right, bath," Night said.

He led them through the chamber into a large network of hallways of polished stone that led deeper into the mountain, passing servants and Zerg creatures everywhere. All the servants were women, and all were extraordinary beautiful. Gemma briefly wondered where they had all come from, but the question was a minor one compared all the ones already occupying her mind. They turn left, right, down a flight of stair, left again, and two more rights before they arrived at a large chamber.

In the middle of the chamber was a large pool of flowing water that exuded a thin layer of steam into the air. On each corner of the pool stood a stone woman in a flowing gown, holding a pitcher. From the pitcher, a stream of water plunged into the pool, slightly churning the water.

At Night's behest, Gemma took her daughter and followed two servant women into a side room. The servants helped her changed into two a white outfit consisted of a pair of pants that terminated just above the knees and a loose-fitting shirt with short sleeves. Dawn was given an identical, albeit more diminutive, outfit. Both sets of clothes were made of some type of fabric lighter than air and smoother than the most expensive fabric Gemma had ever known. The outfits were so pristine and beautiful that she felt bad putting it on over her mucky skin.

When they left the side room, Night was already in the water, wearing only a pair of short. The floor of the pool sloped downward toward the middle, and Night was lying upon one of the slopes, his head above the water. Eve knelt by the side of the pool, near his head, a soft smile and a look of absolute serenity upon her face.

Her son was perfect, which surprised her. Their time at the Black Thorn left more than a few marks on their bodies. Countless beating had created a network of scars on her son's body, of that she knew, but those scars were gone. Her son was pristine, flawless skin covering perfectly sculpted muscle. She had noticed that her son had gotten stronger, but it looked as though he had gotten a brand new body. It worried her. There were too many changes to her son. He was still her son, she could feel it, but what if he keeps changing?

They walked to him and, after a moment of hesitation, entered the pool. The water was warm, flowing gently around them. It felt like regular water, but the grimes on her body simply melted away without her needed to scrub her skin. She watched as the oily sludge flowed away from the river and simply disappeared.

What struck her most were her clothes. Gemma felt as though he clothes had disappeared. If not for the fact that she could still see her clothes, she was certain that it had dissolved.

Gemma wanted to dissolve into the water herself. It had been a difficult couple of days, and the water soothed the stress from her body. The flowing water seemed to wash away even the nervousness of her daughter.

After a bit, Dawn began to find an amount of joy in the pool that only a child could. She splashed about to the water for a while before wandering toward the stone woman and played in the cascading stream. Watching her, Gemma was stunned. The water washed away the oily muck on her body to reveal a diminutive goddess. All the wears and tears on her little face and limbs were gone, and she looked as though she was carved from a block of rosy gemstone.

Startled, Gemma looked down at her arms to find that her skin had changed. Gone was the dullness and marks of hard labor; her skin was perfect, almost translucent, fairly glowing with vitality. She looked down at the water. Though the surface of the water was not serene and she could not completely see her reflection, what little she could make out hinted at a beauty that she had never possessed before.

By the end, they had to all but drag Dawn out of the pool. The servants had fresh clothes waiting for them. Gemma took her daughter into the side room to change into a pair of soft pink dresses more beautiful than anything either of them had ever seen.

When they came out, Night was already dressed. He was wearing a dark red outfit, a robe that was opened in the front over a vest made out of some thin hide-like material and a pair of long pants. Standing before them, he looked divinely beautiful and there was a sense of power to him. All of it melded into an aura of transcendency about his person. Looking at him, she felt a sense of pride. He was her son, and he was destined for greatness.

Dawn seemed oblivious to her brother's new presence. She was pouting when they ushered her out of the room.

"The pool will always be there, little sister," Night said. "It's time to eat."

He led them down two more levels and through eight turns to a grand dining chamber. There were dozens of servants in the room, moving about. Upon an extensive, white marble table, a grand feast had been laid out. There were near a hundred color dishes of various Hellite meats and vegetables. Large, steamy bowls of soup were place next to loaf after loaf of hot breads and block after blocks of cheese.

"Behold the wonder of the Zerg," Night said. "They build; they sew. They cook; they clean. They're freaking magical."

Tentatively, they followed him into the room and sat down to his left while Eve took a seat to his right. Though it was a spacious table, Gemma and Dawn wanted to stick very close to Night. Their nervousness, however, only lasted until the very first bite.

Gemma started with the bread. Because of the Hellites, farmland of any scale was nonexistence, at least, in the Kingdom of Green Hill. Grains were very rare. Bread was considered a sign of great wealth and exalted status. Gemma herself had only eaten it once before when she was younger. Her father had taken her to a feast the White Wolf, the ruling noble clan of city, was holding in honor of a group of dignitaries from the royal family of the kingdom, and she had had her first taste of bread back then. Now, it reminded her of a time before she was abandoned.

Dawn had no such nostalgia. She grabbed for everything within the reach of her little arms and stuffed it in her mouth. When she was growing up, despite her brother's protection, she had been toyed with more than once. Some of the Black Thorn would give her food and then took it away, taunting her with it. She had learned to learn to eat fast, to take one more bite and make it the biggest bite she could because, more likely than not, it could be the last.

Watching her, Gemma felt her heart twisted in pain and no small amount of anger toward the Black Thorn. For the first time, she considered that it might have been a mistake to continue to live with the clan for all these years.

"Slow down, little sister," Night said, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder. "All of this is ours. No one will take it away. I promise."

Dawn swallowed and did slow down. Night rarely made promises, but the ones he made, he kept.

Night held up two silver utensils to Dawn. "Fork. Spoon. Stop using your hands; it's unsanitary. For heaven's sake, you're princess now; stop eating like a street urchin."

Dawn looked at her brother. "I'm not a princess."

"I am the Overmind of the Zerg. You are my sister, which make you the High Princess of the Swarm. It's a big deal. All things considered, the emperor of the most powerful empire on this world isn't good enough to wash your shoes."

Being called a princess by her brother seemed to make Dawn happy but considering her age, it was doubtful that she understood the import of Night's words. As for Gemma, she didn't give much weight to Night's claim, believing that he was simply trying to make his sister happy.

The meal took an hour. While Dawn might have slowed down, old habit did die hard and she fairly stuffed herself. Watching her, Night's forehead creased ever so slightly in worry but didn't stop her. Occasionally, a Zerg creature would wander into the chamber and Night would throw it a morsel of food from the table. The creature would chirp and click at him, lingering for a few moment before leaving the chamber.

"They prefer raw meats and vegetables," Night explained, "but cooked food is somewhat of a novelty for them."

After an hour, Dawn began to droop at the table. Gemma was feeling a little sleepy herself. They had all had a long day.

Night led them to a spacious bedroom with a luxurious bed beneath an elegant canopy. From middle of the ceiling hung a crystal chandelier that fill the room with soft light. They barely got Dawn into the bed before she fell asleep. Gemma crawled into bed next to her daughter and fell asleep before she even realized it.

Gemma didn't know how long she slept. Her slumber was interrupted by her daughter's little hand, pushing her shoulder.

"Momma, momma," Dawn was calling. Her voice was close to tears.

Gemma opened her eyes. The light from the chandelier had dimmed significantly, immersing the room in shadow. "Dawn? What is it, sweetheart?"

"Big brother's gone," Dawn sniffled.

Gemma startled and sat up. She looked around; she and Dawn were alone in the room. A thread of terror constricted around her heart. Without her son here, she felt trap. They were inside a mountain, and she could remember how to leave this place. They had taken too many turns getting here. Intellectually, she knew that her terror was irrational, that her son would never abandon them in this place. Still, she couldn't stop herself.

She got out of bed. The moment her feet touch the floor, the chandelier brightened slightly, enough to push back the shadows but not enough to hurt her eyes. With her daughter clinging to her, Gemma went to the door and eased it opened.

Stand outside the door were two servant women, one blond, one redhead. They turned to her as soon as the door opened.

"How may we help you, my lady?" the one with red hair said.

Gemma hesitated for a moment. "Do you know where my son is?"

"The Overmind is deeper in the nest, my lady."

Gemma didn't know what to do. Even if she could remember all the turns to leave the mountain, she couldn't go if Night was deeper in the nest, and she was terrified of wandering deeper into this place.

"Don't worry, my lady," the blond woman said. "The Overmind is aware that you have awakened. He is coming."

Gemma felt a touch of relief, but the irrational fear didn't fade. After a bit of time, Night appeared at the end of the hallway and walked toward them, shadowed by Eve. When he got close, Dawn broke away and ran to him. She latched onto his leg and started crying softly into his pants.

Night bent down, picked up his sister, and tried to sooth her. He carried Dawn back into the room, and Gemma followed. He slid her back into bed, coming in with her when she refused to let go.

"What were you doing?" Gemma said, scowling slightly at him.

"Nothing," he said. "I was just taking a walk through some of the underground gardens the Zerg had built."

They fell silent. With Night here, the fear was gone and Gemma became curious about these underground gardens he was talking about.

After a while, Night spoke, "You know, these rooms are comfy and all, but they are a little confining, aren't they?"

At his words, the light from the chandelier faded completely. Pitch darkness filled the room for a moment before the ceiling and wall seemed to fade away. Both Gemma and Dawn's eyes widened in wonder. They suddenly found themselves upon a stone plateau, hovering in mid air. Above them was a clear night sky filled with stars and a gently glowing moon. Below them was the endless canopy of leaves that was the forest, and it was glowing softly, radiating a purplish-pink glow into the night.

"The Zerg generates a gel call 'creep' that gathers sunlight and marks their territory," Night explained. "Any plant that the creep touches is assimilated and becomes luminescence. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Gemma nodded in wonder.

Night lied down and looked up at the night sky. "You know, I've never looked at the stars before I became the Overmind. You think I would, living the lives we lived. You think I would look up at the stars and dream of a better world, a better life, but I never had the time. When is the last time you looked up at the stars, mother?"

"I don't remember," Gemma said.

"Up there is our destiny, mother." He turned onto his side and stroked his sister hair. "One day, the stars are going to be your playground, little sister."

In silence, they gazed upward in awe as the stars twinkled down at them.


	3. I am so very sorry

I'm so very, very sorry, but I have to call a mulligan yet again.

After writing these two chapters, the path of the story was beginning to come clear to me, and I have realized that while I have given a butt-load of thoughts to the Zerg, I have given very little thought to the culture of Luminous. The result was that Luminous was barely civilized, and the story is not as rich as it could be.

I am very sorry. I promised that this will be the last time I restart the Zerg Swarm.

The new chapter 1 and 2 will be uploaded in a few weeks. I promise that it will be worth it. Until then, I will leave these chapters up.

Please don't lose your patient in me. Writing is torture and you guys are the only thing making it worthwhile.


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